Rob

I used to work like that but got tired of always being cranky cause I was wasting so much time wandering aimlessly through piles of crap looking for a 12mm spanner. Then I realised that the stuff I almost never used (like harmonic balancer pullers and spare seatbelts) were mixed up with everday tools. Once I put all that stuff away and got a decent tool chest it was easy to keep things in order. And when you set up your new shed, one word. Powerpoints. Lots of them.:classic:

A good tool box or chest and a decent storage system so you can find your tools. Makes whatever tools you have much more usefull.

Yeah but then we would have had to get the starter motor reversed. There was also some doubt about the cam timing being affected as we could not determine if it was symetrical or not.

Yeah when Dad brought his Camaros over we had a bugger of a time finding an Australian distributor cap to fit.

MDyer: Now you want to go and buy one of these lefty drill bits and take it into Lowes. Tell them you bought it from one of the left-handed shops...:stupid:

24OZ: Please tell me you are joking about the RHD thing...

Hooking it to the brake booster would mean that you are applying manifold vacuum to the engine breather, which is too much suction (you actually wind up sucking oil out of the engine). This approach will work if you fit a PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve in that line.

Have to disagree with Mr C... The fumes don't have to be sucked out, they will happily find their own way out through any breather holes you provide them, and they won't contaminate your oil as the fumes are mostly just oil vapour, unless you engine is clapped out. The reason the pipe is attached to the air filter housing is to reduce emmisions. By running the crankcase fumes through the engine you are not releasing as much hydrocarbon into the air. The downside to this is that running crankcase fumes though an engine is not good for performance as the oil vapour in the fumes increase the risk of detonation (I'm not sure why this is but maybe it's a diesel - type effect?) If you don't beleive me, take a look at almost any race car. The setup you will likely see is the breather hoses just attached to a catch can. The oil vapour just accumulates in the catch can and settles as oil. The downside to this is the catch can must be open to the atmosphere to work, so those nasty hydrocarbons are still being released, which is illegal for a road car. The best solution is to make an oil-air separator: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&A=0338

It's the fuel pump actualtion lever. The offset thing on the front of the camshaft swings it back and forth as the engine runs, which makes the fuel pump work.

"Extremely rare?" Those engines are a lot of things (all of them good), but they are not rare (Not in Australia anyways) They were sold in early - mid eighties Japanese skylines and silvias, in turbo and non turbo form. Nissan also made a 2.4 litre non-turbo version for the 240RS rally car.

Or you can get Compomotive MLs from Stuckey's Tyres in Sydney. They are 8 spoke and very similar to Panasports.

Quote from Daniel: The last paragraph of your post says it all.Learn to fix it yourself.Read a book,take a class,If you're young enough get a summer job at a garage.The education will save you a lifetime of grief.Not to mention if you can work with your hands you can always find work.Knowledge is freedom. Couldn't agree more. $$$ spent on tools, books and the occasional broken part (when you stuff up) will save you heaps in the long run, not to mention the satisfaction and practicalities of being able to fix things yourself. The only way to learn how to fix things is to get in there and do it yourself (apply a bit of common sense when it comes to fixing safety items). One more thing - find a good Auto parts shop. One that employs people that know about cars (If more than one wall of the shop is dedicated to crappy sound systems, that's a giveaway that you will get a blank look if you ask how to change brake pads). A good shop will usually be happy to help with a bit of advice if you ask them nicely enough, especially if you are buying enough stuff.

Lucky it's right hand drive!

Thread is 10M X 1.5 (3/8 unc will sorta kinda fit but you could wind up damaging the threads) Length is determined by the mounting thingos on the engine stand. If unsure just get some long bolts and a stack of washers.

Uh, please can the long bolts idea straight away. If the pilot bearing is that tight it won't work anyway, so at best you will get a clutch that won't engage properly, at worst you will break something. I've fitted about a hundred clutches and never had to use that much force to get the gearbox back on. Likewise, if I don't have a spare input shaft handy, the only alignment tool I ever use is my right eyeball. Stick your head in the transmission tunnel and with the help of a torch (flashlight), you should be able to tell if the plate is aligned properly. As you probably know, it has to be <i><b>exact!</i></b> Have a go at realigning it by eye and try again. If it still doesn't fit then take the clutch out completeley and try fitting the gearbox without it. If it still doesn't fit then you have the wrong pilot bearing. Good luck

What is this? Do free Zs grow on trees in America??? It's not fair!!! Just kidding congrats on your find. You'll soon forget about VWs once youve played with a Z long enough

Hi Ben Canberra. Willing to pay freight...

Hello everybody You know that classic situation car A is turning left at a set of traffic lights, but has to stop to give way to car B, and car C drives straight into the back of car A while busy looking at car B? Unfortunately, car A was my 260Z coupe. The tail light trim panel and one reversing light was smashed in the impact so now is a good time to convert to 240Z tail lights, so if anybody has a set that would be great. Here is a list of parts I need: <ul> <li> centre section of rear bumper</li> <li> left hand bumper overrider </li> </ul>AND<ul> <li> 240z tail lights and trim panel </li> </ul>OR<ul> <li> 260z left hand reversing light </li> <li> 260z rear trim panel </li> </ul> Thaks in advance Rob.

No worries mate. When I pulled the L26 out of my 260 and put it into an injected skyline I just carved the injector notches into it with a die grinder and it was fine. Also had to drill and tap a few extra holes in the head as a couple of bolts of the FI manifold are in different positions. Whole operation took less than an hour. 2-Many: I would have been chicken too but it was only a ratty old L26 going into an even rattier old skyline so I really didn't care!

Missed out a set at my local Nissan dealer by a couple of months The parts guy (who is another Z-man) said the sometimes Nissan re-release parts, so there may be hope. I don't know how Nissan decide which parts to re-issue. Maybe it's based on the number of requests? Assuming it's based on the number of requests, I propose that everybody grab the phone, ring your Nissan dealer and try to order: * A set of tail lights with the trim panel * A body shell with all hanging panels and glass Come on, it can't hurt!

My Dad has one but I'm guessing the freight would be prohibitive

My Z is still a future restoration project but the Westfield I built took me 6 years... What's a Westfield? Here:

The Compomotive ML is very similar and available in Aust. Try Stuckeys Tyres in Sydney here's a pic from the compomotive site www.compomotive.com Performance Superlites are also sort of similar, but for some reason they gave two too many spokes.

The problem you describe could be anything but I'd put my money on the igniter (that's part of the ignition, I think it's in the distributor on a 280zx) starting to die. The trick with these sorts of problems is finding somebody with a car like yours and a sense of adventure, who will let you try bits of their car in yours until you track what the problem is. The risk with doing this is that if 'part A' has failed and fryed 'part B' on you car, and you try someone else's 'part b', you will fry their 'part B', which can be embarrasing. As you have said you are not mechanically inclined, you would probably be best trying to find a good workshop that is zx savvy, who can track down the issue without trying a whole bunch of expensive parts. There must be a good z/zx workshop in California. Anybody?

He He He good one. Lots of people look at my Zed and tell me that Zeds are OK but they have always wanted an E-type. I can't see why people like E-types more that Zeds. They are: * More expensive to buy * Less reliable * Don't look as good (Why couldn't they put the wheels in the arches properly?) * More expensive to fix * British (No offence meant to E-type owners, or the British, or British E-type owners)